What's in your bucket?

When our oldest daughter started Sunday School, she had a little girl in her class that she tried to play with and tried to get her to smile. She was a very sad little girl and it was a great concern to our daughter. We prayed with our daughter and God gave us great yet very simple wisdom. We pictured this little girl holding a bucket. And her bucket was empty. She didn't have any kindness or joy or smiles in her bucket. We told our daughter that every time she was kind to this little girl, some kindness would be put into her bucket. Every time she smiled at this little girl, a smile would go into her bucket, etc. And soon, this little girl would have some smiles in her bucket that she could share with our daughter. A few short weeks went by, our daughter came home from sunday school very excited. The little girl had smiled at our daughter for the first time. God showed our daughter the principle of sowing and reaping first hand. And she took great joy in learning this valuable lesson and seeing the answer to her prayers for this little girl. What you sow into other peoples' lives, you will also reap. Do you know the account of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38 and on? Martha is frantically trying to get things ready for a meal with Jesus, and Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet listening to Him. Martha gets irritated because Mary isn't helping her in the kitchen. But Jesus says, " Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Martha was worried and bothered - those words mean anxious and disturbed. Wow, what are we anxious about today - what are we disturbed about today? When we allow those type of emotions to get into our thoughts and in our heart, we move into a realm of fear, doubt and unbelief. Those things are not from God. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Fear,doubt and unbelief are the opposite of faith. Hebrews 11:6 - "Without faith it is impossible to please God". I want to please God. Jesus also told Martha that there is only one thing that is necessary....and Mary had chosen the good part. That is, sitting at Jesus' feet, spending time with Him, learning from Him and soaking in His everlasting love. And no one can take that away. I love that. No one can take away my precious time with Jesus. No one can take away my love for Him. No one can reach in and take away from me what God is doing in my heart. So today I say, "what's in MY bucket?" I have been running pretty hard the past couple weeks. Some things get pushed aside because of the busyness. I confess, I was being a "Martha". And the result of being too busy brought unrest to my heart. My bucket was not being filled daily with the sweet peace of Jesus. You know the old childrens' song "There's a hole in my bucket, dear Georgie, dear Georgie" ? I had a hole in my bucket and it leaked out everything I had. Jesus is so very faithful. His arms are always open - always open - and the invitation is always there to come meet with Him. I will be as Mary and choose the one good thing...sitting at His feet and taking in everything that He has for me for today. Blessings on you as you sit at the feet of Jesus.